Month / May 2015

Lilian Audrey Mason born May 30 1903

Especially for my maternal grandmother. A bouquet with the living spirits of English wilderness, the uncut garden. Her character was that of May flowers – inwardly strong and outwardly soft. Her qualities: patience, kindness, generosity, humour, constancy, solidarity and love. Her youth was in the giddy time of the Twenties flappers. She carried light luggage wherever she went, bringing brightness, calm, contentment, balance and immense respect and regard. Flowers may fade, but memories last.

From the English garden, here is apple blossom with a young deer in lushest grass, buzzy bee in the azalea, mysterious magnolia, funny face pansy and foliage from my mother’s walled garden, beautiful peony and unwrapping poppy.

The rush for the light. Isn’t that what we all wait for? When May comes, after so very long last, it arrives in not bundles, but the canopies of the tree leaf. Green beautiful tree leaf, the domed “Grand Palais” of summer, Nature’s own parasol, brolly and even a light Spring showerhead all rolled into one.

Out of bare and dull branches, the air of Winter’s floating nothingness gradually found its destiny. Only after first blossom, May defines its role with a sudden, almost overwhelming abundance of verdancy. No longer wondering where to go, what to cling to, where to escape from, all airspace becomes busy. Nothing is not nothing for very long.

The Royal Chelsea Flower in London ended yesterday. I followed it with pleasure on television, wishing I could be there, but got so much satisfaction from just watching the highlights each day. Incredible.

One aspect which was shown which illustrates the diversity of the show was an area entitled “Rocket Science”, sponsored by the UK Space Agency. This sought to explore and encourage schoolchildren to participate in gardening and consider ideas for our future colonisation in space, for which relevant plants from the simplest algae will be crucial. Fascinating.